Elsewhere in Beach City, a house party was being thrown. It was a rager. For every reserved teenager quietly standing around and talking amongst themselves, there were two more losing their minds. While the guests danced, waving their arms and kicking their feet in a chaotic frenzy of sweat and pheromones, one stood entirely still, a red cup in hand, still full. One of the dancers, a young man in a stripped polo shirt and cargo shorts, leans over and shouts at her: "You're not enjoying the party?"

"I am." Replied Garnet, still not moving unless she needed to. The teen, who was busy dancing, shrugged and returned to the improvised dance-floor. At the centre of this dance area was Amethyst, who'd truly lost herself to the rhythm. Out of the three remaining Crystal Gems, the short purple one somehow had the biggest stake in the human social world. She knew who was saying what, and, more importantly, who was hosting the good house parties.

"Hey Garnet, get in up on this! Woo!" she shouted across the room at her Gem teammate. Garnet didn't budge, but she did grin. She was glad Amethyst was enjoying herself, even if it was her peacocking to attract more human mates. She was also intrigued at how Amethyst had taken a few of her moves commonly used in fusion techniques and turned them into something completely independent. The guests, of course, didn't pay any mind to the Homeworld rituals on display. They were mainly paying attention to how she was gyrating her ass for anyone who'd look.

"Fancy meeting you here." Said another voice, this one sullener than the one before last. Without a sound, Buck had slid up next to her. He, like her, was still wearing glasses, despite being indoors at nighttime. He also hadn't touched his drink.

"Hello Buck." Replied Garnet, "Where is the rest of your team?"

"My team?"

"You know, the tall one, the loud one, the short one who sings?"

"Oh, right, of course." Buck gestured with his spare hand. Pointing further up the party, he gestured at a tall, pale teen with pointy hair and a blue hoodie, currently preoccupied with a rather complicated table of machinery.

"Sour Cream's over there on the on the decks. Kevin managed to bribe him away from another gig in Empire City. He payed him double."

Buck's hand glided over to the dance-floor, where Garnet now saw that there were two distinct circles forming around two distinct dancers – one was Amethyst, and the other was an stylish girl with a bandana-adorned afro, equally as curvaceous and just as willing to put on a show for the fellas.

"Jenny's just kinda been dancing over there for the last hour or so. She can go for days as long as you don't interrupt her funky flow."

Finally, he pointed to the fair end of the room, where guests lay draped over couches and tables, deep in that sort of conversation you can only have while drunk. One of them was a familiar face to the Gems, at least as far as they'd remembered her name.

"And Sadie brought along Shep, so, uh, she's been pretty preoccupied."

Garnet nodded. "And how about yourself, Buck?"

"I'm cool, I'm always cool." He sipped absent-mindedly at his cup. For a moment the two stood by each other, both stoic.

"Buck, I have a proposition."

"Okay."

"The Gems have a bet to see who is capable of bedding the most humans in one night."

"I see. That's why Amethyst is doing that."

Garnet glanced over. Amethyst, indeed, was doing something; she was grinding her way up and down a frat boy with a shark-tooth necklace. The act elicited several cheers and hoots from amused partygoers.

"Yes, exactly. I've also elected to take part in this challenge, yet my numbers are sparse at best. Would you be interested in helping me bolster my numbers?"

Buck didn't answer right away. He sipped on his drink, clicked his heels and sighed.

"Yes, sure, we can help with that."

"We?"

"Give me five minutes and we'll meet you in the upstairs bedroom."

Buck downed the rest of his drink and moved off into the crowd. He made his way to Sour Cream first, waving his arms in a desperate bid to snap him out of the groove. Garnet, realising what he had meant, grinned again, threw her cup over her shoulder, making a splatter on the adjoining wall, and marched upstairs.